Ukraine hunts ex-leader on mass murder arrest warrant

2 years ago

(NEWSER) – Ousted Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich is now officially a fugitive from justice, just two days after the country's parliament voted to remove him from office. The country's interim interior minister has issued an arrest warrant accusing the ex-leader of "mass murder of peaceful citizens" over the deaths of scores of protesters in Kiev last week, the BBC reports.

Yanukovich, who fled the capital over the weekend while still declaring himself the country's legitimate leader, seems highly unlikely to turn himself in. Officials say he was last seen in the autonomous and strongly pro-Russia Crimea region, but left by car for an unknown destination.

The Obama administration has warned Russia against sending troops to Ukraine, which is split between a pro-Russia east and pro-European Union west, Voice of America reports. Russian intervention would be a "grave mistake," National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned yesterday. "It is not in the interest of Ukraine or of Russia, or Europe, or the United States to see the country split. It is in nobody’s interest to see violence return and the situation escalate."